Thanks, Kimberly and winner

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for….

The winner of an e-copy of Kim’s book Almost a Bride:

Christine!

 

I’ll be in touch soon.

 

I want to thank author Kimberly Llewellyn for being my guest this week, and thank all of you for stopping by.

Conversation with Kimberly Llewellyn

Q&A with Kimberly Llewellyn
Author of the Best-selling Romance, Almost a Bride

Kimberly Llewellyn is the author of several best selling romantic comedy novels, including her newly released Almost A Bride.

Hi Kim, thanks for being with us today. You’ve recently self-published several titles, what made you jump into self-publishing and have you been pleased with the results? Did it live up to your expectation?

Kimberly: I’m traditionally published (Kensington, Penguin/Berkley) and the time just came for me to dip a toe into indie publishing. Little did I know that my initial foray — with two books, Siren Call and Almost a Bride — would land me on the Amazon Best Sellers List. It’s been a thrilling time. And so, yes, it has lived up to my expectations, but it comes with its share of hard work, too!

Congrats on the Best seller status! What inspired Almost A Bride?

Kimberly: I wanted to explore a social situation many women still face today, The Madonna/Whore Complex. We are expected to be a good girl, but also be a bad girl. Some call this, “a lady in the living room, a whore in the bedroom.” What’s a girl to do? So I decided to tackle the dichotomy between these two expectations through the character, Ivy Hammond, in Almost a Bride. This very dilemma actually caused her broken engagement.

(And readers, guess who broke off the engagement? Feh, men! ) Ahem, so Kim, by what authors would you say you are influenced?

Kimberly: Too many to list! Each and every book I’ve ever read has had a great influence on me, from Margaret Atwood’s hauntingly poetic language to Kathy Lette’s over-the-top humor. But the one author who had a huge influence on me was Norman Mailer. One summer, many, many years ago, I got to hang out with him in Provincetown, MA. He taught me to go for your dreams. His attitude about “going for it” changed my life.

Oh, wow! What a neat occurrence for you!  Now that Almost A Bride is out, what can curious fans expect from you next?

Kimberly: Oh, goodness, I’ve gone old school with my next novel, a medical romance. It’s a heartrending doctor-nurse love story. It’s a curious experience when your own story gets you choked up. I’m worried about these two people, truly worried. Don’t get me started about the baby whose life they’re trying to save!

Aw!! Of course I’m sure all will work out for them. Is there anything you haven’t yet achieved in your career—or any specific thing you haven’t written about yet—that you dream of doing something?

Kimberly: Besides hitting the New York Times Best Sellers List (Hey, I’m working on it!), I think it would be fun to see one of my books made into a movie. While I love writing romance, I do have some young adult novels inside that are clawing to get out. But we’ll see!

I’m sure you’ll get the NYT list/movie deal sometime!  Maybe with Almost A Bride?

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Feel free to visit my website at http://www.kimberlyllewellyn.com and
connect with me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kimllewellyn. I would totally love that.

Until then, below is the back cover copy to my fun, sexy contemporary romance. Thank you so much for letting me share with you!

Almost a Bride
available at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Almost-a-Bride-ebook/dp/B006NUK0OM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332767421&sr=8-1

Award-winning author, Kimberly Llewellyn, introduces a sexy fun story about two people who discover they have a lot more to share between the sheets than they ever bargained for.

Ivy Hammond got dumped at the altar, all because she was too much of a good girl in the bedroom. So when a research study on sex appeal needs participants, she jumps at the chance to learn what it takes to be sexy.

Kip Lockehart owes his foster brother his life. He repays the debt by agreeing to participate in a new sex appeal study. From the first sizzling assignment, Kip is immediately intrigued by the lovely Ivy, who’s innocently curious about what makes a woman sensual. Kip is more than happy to show her. But as each passionate assignment brings them closer, he fears they may break the study’s number one rule–don’t fall in love. But when he can’t stop picturing Ivy as his bride, he sets out to convince her some rules were made to be broken.

And how about a book trailer?

About Kimberly Llewellyn:

Known as “the Wedding Writer,” Kimberly Llewellyn has worked with four publishing houses over the years and is the author of seven contemporary novels. Berkley Books, part of Penguin Putnam, published her most recent releases, two humorous comedic women’s fiction novels in trade paperback. Her current indie books include Siren Call and the best-selling romance, Almost a Bride.

Thanks so much for being with us, Kim! Good luck with all you do. Folks, if you’d like to, please leave a comment or question for Kimberly and Friday, we’ll pick a winner for a free Kindle download* of Almost A Bride. Until later then, keep reading–and laughing!

*Giveaway has ended.

Rachel Brimble Giveaway

Thanks to author Rachel Brimble for being my guest this week, and thank you to all of you who stopped by for the interview. now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Night Mistress and I shook ye ole magic 8 ball and came up with a winner.

Christine!

(Insert Kermit the Frog yell and flailing here. )
Rachel and I will be in touch with you shortly for specifics. Thanks again for stopping by! We hope you enjoyed the interview, and the books.

More Winners!

Thanks to everyone who came to our little Christmas party, and to all the authors who participated. *Mistress checks the computer files* I see we have some winners. So, without further ado…

Christine, you’ve won Beth Trissel‘s giveaway.
Kathryn Anne, you’ve won Linda McLaughlin‘s giveaway.

The ladies shall be in touch with you soon.

Well, that concludes our Christmas party for this year. We hope you all enjoyed our guests and maybe found some new favorites. From my minions and myself, we enjoyed hosting all our dear author friends, and we  hope you, our dear guests and friends, have a safe and happy holiday!  See ya soon, if not, next year.

Announcements

Before we move on, I wanted to say, Miss Linda LaRoque chose the winner of her book giveaway…. Kathryn Anne, congrats! Linda should’ve gotten in touch with you by now.

And Eilis Flynn, you’ve won Heather’s “Victoriana” giveaway. I’m sure she’ll be in contact with you soon.

Congrats to you both and Happy Holidays!

Linda LaRoque–Born In Ice

God, this holiday season’s not getting off to a good start. Do you remember me complaining about my battle with doctor Franken-Helsing in October? The one that ruined my boots? Well, would you believe his sister—who’s been quietly awaited the second coming in my graveyard out back—the bitch rose from the grave last night, and dragged her zombie behind in her…to steal my boots!!! In the process, she fouled up certain of our electronics and my minions had to go in and untangle the mess. So, blame the delay on her zombie butt. *stomps across floor enraged* I swear, if it wasn’t useless to kill the dead, her head would be joining the ornaments on my Yule tree for sure. Maybe I can get Santa’s number and seduce him—I mean talk him into bringing me a new pair. Maybe he’ll let me put a curse on the Franken-Helsing family. Maybe that’ll keep their zombie butts in the grave where they belong…you think? Sorry folks.

While I try to figure out a new course of action. I have a guest speaker here to entertain you, folks. Please welcome romance writer, Linda LaRoque to our little home to tell us a little about her futuristic tale, Born In Ice.

Hey Linda, have you found anything in the future useful for defeating zombie vampire slayers?

Born in Ice

This futuristic romantic suspense story grew from a dream, one of a woman frozen in a block of ice and found by fishermen from an undersea world.  She’s taken to their home and with the help of advanced medical technology, she recovers. In time she learns she must learn to fit into their social system, one different from what she’s known.

Blurb:

Pulled from an icy grave…into a world of doubt and danger.

Frozen in ice for seventy-five years, Zana Forrester suffers the agony of rebirth to learn her son is dead, and her daughter’s whereabouts is unknown.  The year is 2155. A man’s soothing voice and gray eyes haunt her drug induced dreams. When she recovers, she meets their owner and finds her heart in danger. But, a relationship isn’t a consideration; she must find her daughter.

Brock Callahan is drawn to the beautiful woman taken aboard his salvage ship. He’s determined she’ll be his wife and a mother to his young daughter, but he vows not to love her. All the women he’s loved died. While Zana searches for her daughter, Brock must protect Zana from the evil that threatens.

My editor for Champagne Books has graciously given permission for me to post the Prologue and Chapter One of Born in Ice, so for 10 days I’ll be sharing another installment.

Chapter One – installment 10

The vehicle was a self-sealing model, one that upon impact sealed
the interior from water and gases, including oxygen. The purpose was to
preserve any life-form inside. On occasion, individuals found in bergs were
thawed, and life resuscitated.

In 2065 when widespread temperatures dropped to dangerous levels,
a drug was developed to help protect body tissues, under certain conditions,
from freezing. Individuals five years and older took a monthly dose of the
preparation. The medication gave cells the ability to be frozen and thawed
with minimal damage. Of course, there were exceptions, cases where the
procedure failed, but the success rate was over fifty percent.

Lost in thought, Brock started at Luke’s question.

“Do you know the location of the deactivation switch, Skipper?”

“Yeah.” Brock walked around, peering inside the darkened windows.
He couldn’t see much, but a shadow in front gave him pause. “Call the
hospital, and have them send a hermetic pod in case we find a body.” The
container would help preserve life if it was present. He was nervous as hell.
Always was when they pulled one of these babies out of the water. It was a
constant shock to see a human, frozen and resembling a figure in a wax
museum display, but finding bodies without hope for survival haunted him.

“They’ve got one on the way.”

He reached under the driver’s side fender well. The small box was
easy to locate. He twisted the lever, opened the container, and pushed the
button. A flurry of clicks sounded around the car.

Brock opened the door. A blast of cold air whooshed out. The faint
smell of death washed over him filling him with dread. He staggered back for
a moment. The first thing he noticed was the child’s seat in the back. Empty.

He drew near again and saw the driver’s seat was reclined. A body lay curled
on its side holding a bundle close.

His voice gruff, he called, “Bring us a light. Luke, open the doors on
the other side.”

Digger held the light as Brock leaned in to look at the bowed figure
on the seat. From the person’s figure and profile, there was no denying the
delicate features beneath the mask belonged to a woman. She was dressed
from head to toe in a silvery grey snowsuit with fur-trimmed matching boots.
Fur as soft and as gray as a dove’s wing edged her parka making her appear
even more ethereal. Dark lashes brushed her face covering, similar to a ski
mask, made with cut-outs for her eyes, nose, and mouth.

He carefully pulled the blanket away from the bundle and groaned at
the mummified features of what had once been a child. Oh, God, no. Not a
baby.

Tomorrow I’ll be ending my blog tour on Rachel Firasek’s blog at http://www.rachelfirasek.com/ I hope you’ll stop by as I share 3 books on my Christmas Wish List. Thank you all for taking this journey with me. Wow, I can’t believe I made it!

Please leave a comment today to be entered into a drawing for an ecopy of A Way Back, my time travel set in the 1930s oil fields of Texas. Your name will also be entered in the GRAND PRIZE drawing for my blog tour—a KINDLE.  A name will be draw at the end of my tour on December 16th.

Good luck!

I also have a release contest going. Sign up for my newsletter by emailing me at linda@lindalaroque.com with Born in Ice in the subject line. Your name will be added to the drawing for this rhinestone frog pin. For each of my releases I try to find a piece of jewelry significant to the story. After reading Born in Ice you’ll understand why I chose this frog.

Wow. sounds great, Linda! Good luck with it. And once again, sorry for the delay. Hopefully, my minions have locked the zombie back in her grave and we won’t have this trouble again! Thanks so much for your patience. Folks, don’t forget to leave Linda a comment so you get in the running for this cute frog. And for more on Linda LaRoque’s works, see her website, or her blog.

and if you’d like to check out–or purchase–Born In Ice (or A Way Back) for yourself, you can do so here and here.

Have a great day, good luck to all who enter, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and watch out for the zombies!

 

*GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED

Jeanne Guzman–Deep in the heart of a Plotster

*Mistress pours some herbs into her daily brew.* Oh, hello. You’ve returned. Please forgive my lethargy. Do you remember that man I told you about? The one with the daughter who idolized a certain vampire slayer I’ve come to know—and loathe? Well, do you know what that rat so-and-so did?? Got me out of my dress…

Okay stop smirking. The happy ending ends there.

*pulls bodice down slightly* Do you see that? *taps chest* That red mark?

Yep, that’s right. The so-and-so and his hellspawn tried to stake me!

*stifles rant* Ahem, at any rate, our last guest has arrived, and she tells me it’s time to get back to business as usual. *[Aside: Why is my minion looking at me like that and nodding, you think?]* Miss Jeanne Guzman writes fantasy romance, usually about other supernatural creatures near and dear to your Mistress’ heart (in fact I have one out back in the stables, ) : dragons. Today, however, she’s here to tell us a little bit about how she came to achieve her dreams. Jeanne, you have the floor.

Deep in the heart of a Plotster

by Jeanne Guzman

To plot or not to plot, that’s always been my problem. I try my hardest to plot out my next book but end up changing my mind the more the characters come to life. I end up tossing out what notes I have on the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW, letting the book go where it needs to. This is why I call myself a plotster. Half plotter, half pantster. It works for me. Basically what I’m saying is, there is no right or wrong way to write. It takes time to find your inner writer, your voice, but once you figure it out, don’t listen to those who say it HAS to be one certain way.

I have had the privilege of speaking to several published authors, many well known, and they all say the same thing. WRITE. Computer or typewriter, pen and paper, if it’s in your heart to write, then write. Get the basics down on paper, then go in and add all the little things, or, put in as much as you can the first time around and go back and edit out what isn’t needed, or, write all the dialogue first, go back and add the action, go back and add the scenes, you get the picture.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I’ve been there, done that. I’ve attended workshops, spent weekends at conferences, and in the end, what I have is an editor who believes in my work, a publisher who stands behind me, and a book that I can proudly claim as mine. Dreams come true, never doubt yourself, and just think of rejections as the next step to getting published.
And here’s the part I love the best, telling you all about Dragon Lover, the first in my Dragon Hunters series released through Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

Leave a comment here and one lucky person will receive an e-copy of Dragon Lover.

Excerpt:
For eighteen years Kimball Crossley trained for the day she’d come face-to-face with the creature who murdered her parents. Nothing could’ve prepared her for the dragon who would change her life forever.

Dmitri of the Langhier Clan is one of the elite Dragon Hunters. For eighteen years he’s stood against evil, believing he’ll forever be a warrior for his people. That was until the night he’s confronted with his future.

With whispers of war in the air, can Kimball learn to trust what she’s always hated and accept her love for the Dragon Hunter? Dmitri’s skills as a hunter are superior, but can he accept that women, particularly his woman, can be as strong in mind and body as any well trained hunter? Can they put aside their differences long enough to save both their worlds?

Bio:
Born and raised in Maryland, Jeanne Guzman got to Texas as fast as she could. Mother of 4, Mimi to 9, and Keeper of the Zoo, Jeanne and her husband/best friend enjoy life to its fullest. When they’re not traveling around Texas in their motor coach, you can find Jeanne sitting in her home office typing away at her computer.

To find out more, visit my website at http://romanceinflight.com/
To purchase Dragon Lover in e-book format, go to http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JeanneGuzman.html#top

Fascinating stuff, Jeanne, dear. Who are these celebrities you know? Dracula, maybe? Dr. Frankenstein, I hope. I need to speak with him about some painkillers. No? Aw….well, not even a little hint? shucks. Well, thank you so much for being with us; we’ve enjoyed having you, and much, much good luck to you with Dragon Lover! Folks, if you’d like a chance  to win a copy of Dragon Lover, please leave Jeanne a comment or question, and yep, we’ll choose a winner soon. Until then, have a lovely evening… and watch out for those blasted hunters!

***

**Giveaway has ended.

*Winners shall be chosen at the end of this event.

(Legalese silliness: My apologies to my Canadian friends but contests only open to US residents, and void where prohibited by law.

No extra entries necessary other than, of course, to leave a comment on the appropriate contest entry for that time period.

Full site giveaway disclaimers here)